Red Russia

The Socialist Republic of Russia, or just Red Russia is a powerful European Radicalist country part of the Socialist Bloc.

Prelude: Communism in Russia, pre 1925
Communism had always been a stronghold in the Russian Republic. It was mostly due to the unpopularity of the Russian Tsar and the still feudal system Russia contained since it couldn’t industrialize effectively. When the Tsar was disposed of in 1917, and the Russian Republic was declared in Petrograd, support for the Russian government came back. But even when the Great War ended and the Russians remained victorious, they still had to deal with industrial problems and anti-Russian nationalism. But the support for the republic largely diminished due to the arrival of Lenin and his writings became massively popular across Petrograd Moscow and Tsaritsyn. But due to Lenin’s assassination it only caused more problems for the republic as it made him a martyr and due to impressive propaganda it swayed even more people to the leftist side of things. Before 1925, support for leftism slowly grew across the country to the dismay of the Republican government.

1925-1927: The Russian Civil War and the Red Uprising
The Russian Civil War began due an uprising of thousands of Poles who quickly ousted the government there and declared an independent Poland. Soon after multiple states like Crimea and Estonia declared their independence, the Russian communists found their chance to rise up. When they did, it was a massive success. The initial rebellion pushed the whites out of Petrograd, and with that news the communists from across the republic rose up to help with the communists in Petrograd. Within 1 month, the Russians captured almost all of European Russia including Moscow and Tsaritsyn. It seemed like the communists might actually take over the whole country. However, the supplies of the Reds were numbered. The Germans tried to send supplies but even that was limited as well. Not to mention, successful uprisings by Finnish separatists forced the handover of Helsinki and the slowly withdraw from Finnish territory really hurt their cause in the long run. Not to mention the Congress of Ufa, which would cause the whites to turn their full attention to the Reds and crushing them first. Throughout 1926 the Reds would slowly loose territory. Soon they lost Tsaritsyn, and after a long bloody battle they lost Moscow, a plundering defeat. By 1927, it seemed that the Red cause was lost. However, during the Congress of Petrograd, it was decided that Leon Troskey, the leader of the Socialist Republic would try to make peace with the Finns. This decision was widely unpopular but in the end it was a factor that won them their full independence. In the town of Imatra, the president of Finland and Leon went through peace negotiations. It was decided that Leon would force the Reds to give up Murmansk and Onega, in exchange Finland would guarantee an “indefinite” non aggression pact, and send in some of their own supplies to aid against the whites. Once the peace was made, the whites were approaching Petrograd. If the city was captured it would mean the end for the Communist uprising as they knew it. But the new men and supplies brought into the city by the reds caused the whites to be unprepared and due to this the whites were forced to retreat, in what would come to be known as the “Save of Petrograd”. This blow to the Whites forced both sides to enter peace deals. In the Ceasefire and Treaty of Petrograd, the reds would keep their territory intact, while the Whites were forced to leave the border demilitarized.

1927-1930: Problems inside the country
Peace was finally secured, but at what cost. Much of the country was devastated in the fighting. A lot of the population was homeless, demoralized and angry with the new government. The current government knew if they didn’t build up their reputation a new revolution could sweep the country. New reforms were quickly passed. Things like taxes, loans and debt was excused to help aid the populace get back on their feet. Nationalization of the industry quickly took place. Initiatives helped rebuild neighborhoods, buildings, farms and more. The fear of a new revolution began to die down throughout the months but it was still there. But it wasn’t until 1928 when things really began to pick up. The Germans after the war at first didn’t aid the Radicalist country mostly due to ideological differences. But only 1 year after the treaty was signed, the German syndicalists finally under pressure went into talks with the Russians, and formed their own pact, known as the Combined Nations of The People. This new pact and the new nations that joined them helped bring in needed supplies to the Reds, and the new initiative was to remoralize the public as the country was being rebuilt. A big problem that was found out was the population decline of the Socialists due to the massive damage caused by the war. Propaganda was made, with slogans such as “Unite against the Bourgeoisie” and “Break Your Chains”. Several cities were renamed, such as Petrograd to Leningrad to honor Lenin. Women’s Suffrage was passed in March of 1929. Thousands began to join the ranks of the army in 1929, but rebuilding was far from over.

1931-1935: Change for the better
In 1931, it was the first general elections inside the country and many began to vote. In the end, Lev Kamenev was elected as the second President of Red Russia, to the dismay of Troskey who declared the elections “illegitimate”. Despite this, he was forced to hand down his position to Lev. Lev’s ideals of “Socialism in one country” helped build the country up, but in turn it somewhat isolated them from international affairs. As the 30s continued onward, the Reds began to be a forced to be reckoned with. They invested into a new navy and Air Force. The first ships were built in 1934 while the first fighter was built 1 year earlier. But, the popularist takeover in Russia in 1930 helped bring new opposition parties against Lev. The main opposition was Joseph Stalin, who believed the state should become more authoritative and centralized. Whereas others like Alexandra Kollontai were more conservative communists. Alexandra was a traditional Marxist with Syndicalist sympathies, who believed economic management should be given to the trade unions instead. In 1935 during the second election, she made history as she was elected as the new president, being the first ever woman to be elected in a socialist state. Although it has only been a year, she had passed several reforms which gave more power to the trade unions, decreasing centralization in the country while also bringing the Reds into the international world stage.